1.) Field of the Invention
The subject matter of this invention is directed to a cleaning appliance which facilitates cleaning of surfaces such as floors, walls and ceilings and can also be used on a tiled, linoleum or carpeted surface to effect the removal of lint and hair.
2.) Description of the Prior Art
Surface cleaning appliances have long been known. A typical surface cleaning appliance would be a broom or mop. Brooms and mops are totally ineffective in cleaning certain types of surfaces. An example of one particular type of surface would be a carpet. Tile, linoleum and carpets have a tendency to collect and retain lint, human hair and animal hair. The only type of cleaning appliance that facilitates cleaning of such surfaces would be to use a vacuum cleaner. However, vacuum cleaners are normally not designed to be used to do a "quick cleanup". Since vacuum cleaners are relatively bulky in size, it requires the user to pull the vacuum from a storage area, use the vacuum and then return it to the storage area which means that generally the vacuum cleaner is intended to be used only when performing a major cleaning operation.
People, during the time that they are shampooing and drying hair commonly lose a significant number of hair strands each and every day. These hair strands fall and accumulate onto the floor. It would be desirable to use some kind of a cleaning appliance which facilitates the picking up of this hair and would do so quickly and easily. For frequent cleaning of carpets in the past, there have been used what is termed a carpet sweeper. However, a carpet sweeper is not really effective at picking up hair.
There have previously been manufactured lint removers for clothing and fabrics with these lint removers being constructed in the form of a roller attached to a handle. The roller has mounted on its peripheral surface an adhesive layer. The adhesive layer is to be rolled along the fabric or clothing to remove foreign particles. However, in the past, due to their short handle, none of these lint removers could feasibly be used for purposes other than short range for clothing and fabric.